BCP Boys
Well Known Member
Several folks have PMed me asking for a PIREP on my Whirlwind Prop. I’m not an expert by no means but will try to provide some feedback relevant to others considering this prop.
First I have to say that I was very reluctant to buy a prop from Whirlwind because of the negative comments on the forums. I was very interested in this prop because a couple of my RV friends have the RV200 prop and they are very happy with it so I decided to look into it. So after reading the negative comments I decided to call Whirlwind myself and see how they treated me and see for myself. From the very start they were very helpful, nice and fairly quick to respond and answer all my questions. I asked about the turn around and they told me upfront that their current lead time was usually 10-12 weeks but lately they’ve been running a bit longer. It took me a couple of weeks to commit but when I was ready to order I requested them to give me a firm ship date and they agreed. During the next week I provided them with some colors that I had picked and waited to hear back. 1 week before the promised ship date I was contacted about final payment and final shipping address. I received my prop on the exact date that it was promised. . . . Pretty darn impressive if you ask me, I’m no one special and didn’t receive any special treatment, I was simply nice to them and they were nice to me .
Once getting my hands on the prop I have to say I was impressed with quality and the beauty of the prop. It is absolutely a work of art in my opinion and I’m very happy with it.
For installation I reached out to a couple of folks on this forum and got some answers since this was my first time converting from Fixed Pitch to CS.
Back to the prop - The install was fairly straight forward. This particular prop came with a primed white spinner and hardware. I chose to buy the governor from Whirlwind. After tracking down a list of other hardware that I needed to install the governor, oil line, etc. the install took a total of 2 partial days. I decided to order my oil line from TSFlightline (thanks Tom) to the exact measurement that I needed. I followed the directions for the initial engine run up with the new prop and thankfully no surprises. Luckily the ground static run up was exactly at 2680 which was good enough for now. Overall, everything came together well until I put the cowling on. The spinner bulkhead was touching the ring on both the top and bottom cowl. A local friend volunteered to help with some fiberglass work on the cowl (thanks Steve) and after a couple of more days of fiberglass work it was time to fit the cowl and go for the first flight with the prop.
Fist flight was amazing! I had no idea that my awesome airplane could be that much better. Well it was and it is. My takeoff roll decreased by at least 1/2. On a hot southern day at 93 degrees, I took off and climbed at 1800 ft per/min at 90 knots and 1500 ft per/min at 110 knots to keep the cylinders cooled off. My cruise speeds are faster too, but its hard to compare cruise to my last prop. The only way is that my cruise settings that give me a nice smooth cruise burning the same as it did when I had the fixed pitch prop are around 7 to 10 knots faster at 5500 ft. on the same hot day. Prop is very smooth and don't think it needs to be dynamically balanced and I think I'm going to do that soon anyway just to see.
I’ve been flying it with the new prop for about a month now. It took some time to get use to how much the plane slowed down and controlling the decent while flying slow on final for short fields.
Overall I have to say I’m extremely pleased and honestly a bit giddy when I fly the -7. It’s awesome!
If you are even thinking about ordering the RV200, call them and talk to them. They are good people and deliver a great product. I would have waited another 2 months knowing how the prop performs but I know that’s hard to say now.
Below are some pics of the new prop.
First I have to say that I was very reluctant to buy a prop from Whirlwind because of the negative comments on the forums. I was very interested in this prop because a couple of my RV friends have the RV200 prop and they are very happy with it so I decided to look into it. So after reading the negative comments I decided to call Whirlwind myself and see how they treated me and see for myself. From the very start they were very helpful, nice and fairly quick to respond and answer all my questions. I asked about the turn around and they told me upfront that their current lead time was usually 10-12 weeks but lately they’ve been running a bit longer. It took me a couple of weeks to commit but when I was ready to order I requested them to give me a firm ship date and they agreed. During the next week I provided them with some colors that I had picked and waited to hear back. 1 week before the promised ship date I was contacted about final payment and final shipping address. I received my prop on the exact date that it was promised. . . . Pretty darn impressive if you ask me, I’m no one special and didn’t receive any special treatment, I was simply nice to them and they were nice to me .
Once getting my hands on the prop I have to say I was impressed with quality and the beauty of the prop. It is absolutely a work of art in my opinion and I’m very happy with it.
For installation I reached out to a couple of folks on this forum and got some answers since this was my first time converting from Fixed Pitch to CS.
Back to the prop - The install was fairly straight forward. This particular prop came with a primed white spinner and hardware. I chose to buy the governor from Whirlwind. After tracking down a list of other hardware that I needed to install the governor, oil line, etc. the install took a total of 2 partial days. I decided to order my oil line from TSFlightline (thanks Tom) to the exact measurement that I needed. I followed the directions for the initial engine run up with the new prop and thankfully no surprises. Luckily the ground static run up was exactly at 2680 which was good enough for now. Overall, everything came together well until I put the cowling on. The spinner bulkhead was touching the ring on both the top and bottom cowl. A local friend volunteered to help with some fiberglass work on the cowl (thanks Steve) and after a couple of more days of fiberglass work it was time to fit the cowl and go for the first flight with the prop.
Fist flight was amazing! I had no idea that my awesome airplane could be that much better. Well it was and it is. My takeoff roll decreased by at least 1/2. On a hot southern day at 93 degrees, I took off and climbed at 1800 ft per/min at 90 knots and 1500 ft per/min at 110 knots to keep the cylinders cooled off. My cruise speeds are faster too, but its hard to compare cruise to my last prop. The only way is that my cruise settings that give me a nice smooth cruise burning the same as it did when I had the fixed pitch prop are around 7 to 10 knots faster at 5500 ft. on the same hot day. Prop is very smooth and don't think it needs to be dynamically balanced and I think I'm going to do that soon anyway just to see.
I’ve been flying it with the new prop for about a month now. It took some time to get use to how much the plane slowed down and controlling the decent while flying slow on final for short fields.
Overall I have to say I’m extremely pleased and honestly a bit giddy when I fly the -7. It’s awesome!
If you are even thinking about ordering the RV200, call them and talk to them. They are good people and deliver a great product. I would have waited another 2 months knowing how the prop performs but I know that’s hard to say now.
Below are some pics of the new prop.
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